Jeffrey Dean Morgan Was Shocked Zack Snyder’s Flashpoint Batman Plans Got Canceled

Jeffrey Dean Morgan came ridiculously close to playing one of the most brutal and fascinating versions of Batman ever put on the page, and he still can’t believe it didn’t happen.

The Flashpoint version of Batman was once part of Zack Snyder’s larger plans for the DCEU, with Morgan lined up to return as Thomas Wayne after his brief appearance in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

The idea eventually disappeared as Warner Bros. moved away from Snyder’s interconnected DC universe, leaving Morgan just as disappointed as the fans who wanted to see him put on the cape and cowl.

During an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Morgan confirmed that Snyder had much bigger plans for Thomas Wayne when he was originally brought in for Batman v Superman.

“Well, it’s not it’s really nothing. And he’s like I got bigger plans,” Morgan said on the podcast.

Morgan appeared in the film alongside Lauren Cohan, who played Martha Wayne. On the surface, casting recognizable actors as Bruce Wayne’s murdered parents for such a short scene seemed like an interesting choice. Snyder, however, apparently had his eye on what could come later.

At one point, the filmmaker gave Morgan a pretty huge clue about where Thomas Wayne might be headed.

“I think at one point he like had looked over and just said Flashpoint. And I was like, ‘Oh, God damn it.’ Like I almost like don’t want to hear it, right?” Morgan explained.

For DC fans, it’s easy to understand why that one word got Morgan so excited. In the Flashpoint storyline, Barry Allen’s manipulation of the timeline creates a drastically altered DC universe where Bruce Wayne was killed in Crime Alley instead of his parents.

Thomas Wayne becomes Batman, but he’s nothing like the traditional Bruce Wayne version of the character. He’s older, angrier, far more violent, and willing to cross lines his son generally wouldn’t.

Morgan playing that Batman feels like casting that practically writes itself. Even better, Snyder had apparently been thinking about Morgan as Batman long before Batman v Superman entered the picture.

The conversation went all the way back to their time together promoting Watchmen, in which Morgan memorably played Edward Blake, aka The Comedian.

“We talked I remember we started talking about Batman, him and I together on the press tour for Watchmen and he was like, ‘I would love to see you play Batman,'” Morgan said.

Morgan understandably thought Snyder was messing with him. “Bro, don’t even tease. I’m going to have a heart attack right now,” the actor recalled telling Snyder.

Years later, Snyder cast him as Thomas Wayne, and suddenly that old Batman conversation had a possible path forward. Add Flashpoint into the equation and the plan becomes pretty obvious. Morgan could have gone from Bruce Wayne’s father in Batman v Superman to an alternate-universe Batman in a future DCEU movie.

Unfortunately, Warner Bros.’ DC plans changed dramatically, and Snyder’s larger vision for the franchise was abandoned. Despite years of fan campaigns and speculation about Morgan returning as Thomas Wayne’s Batman, the project never became a reality.

The eventual live-action The Flash movie went in a completely different direction. Instead of Morgan showing up as the Flashpoint Batman, the film brought Michael Keaton back as his version of Bruce Wayne while Ben Affleck also returned as the DCEU Batman.

Morgan didn’t hide how surprised he was that everything with Snyder and Warner Bros. ultimately fell apart. “I was so shocked that with Zach and Warner Brothers and that it didn’t work out,” he said.

He also praised Snyder’s knowledge of the DC universe while discussing what could have been, making it clear that these weren’t simply fan theories that grew out of Morgan’s Thomas Wayne cameo. Snyder had directly discussed Batman and Flashpoint with him, and Morgan knew there were bigger ideas being kicked around.

It remains one of the more frustrating DCEU projects that slipped away because Morgan was such an awesome fit for Thomas Wayne’s Batman. He has the intimidating presence, the attitude, and the grizzled edge needed to sell a Batman who has spent years tearing through criminals after losing his son.

We’ve had plenty of different version of Batman on the big screen over the years, but Jeffrey Dean Morgan stalking through Gotham as the gun-toting Thomas Wayne Batman could have been something completely different, and he would’ve been awesome.

Would you have liked to see Morgan’s Flashpoint Batman movie happen?